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Thursday newspaper round-up: Islamic State, North Sea oil, BoE...

President Barack Obama has branded Islamic State (IS) fighters a "cancer" in the Middle East, and said the US will not be swayed from carrying out airstrikes against the group after it beheaded an American journalist. In his strongest condemnation of the Sunni militants formerly known as Isis, Mr Obama said the group believes they are at war with the West, but are in fact terrorising their own neighbours. - The Independent

Sir Ian Wood, the most influential figure in the Scottish oil industry, has accused Alex Salmond's government of exaggerating North Sea oil reserves by up to 60%. Wood, the billionaire founder of the oil services firm Wood Group, said the first minister's administration had also overestimated North Sea oil income over the next five years by up to £2bn a year or £370 per person, raising serious questions about Salmond's public spending plans. - The Guardian

MPs have issued a veiled rebuke to the governor of the Bank of England after it failed to disclose a sensitive shareholding of Richard Sharp, one of Mark Carney's former Goldman Sachs colleagues, who now sits on the Bank's powerful Financial Policy Committee. An embarrassed Mr Carney was also forced to reveal that he was proposing to ban FPC members from making political donations after revelations that Mr Sharp had been a major donor to the Conservatives in the past, giving £402,000 in the nine years to 2010. - The Times

Britain is exporting cars at a record rate amid strong international demand for luxury brands. The UK has exported more than 5m cars since 2010, marking the best start to a decade, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). - The Guardian

An array of Nobel economists have launched a blistering attack on the eurozone's economic strategy, warning that contractionary policies risk years of depression and a fresh eruption of the debt crisis. "Historians are going to tar and feather Europe's central bankers," said Professor Peter Diamond, the world's leading expert on unemployment. "Young people in Spain and Italy who hit the job market in this recession are going to be affected for decades. It is a terrible outcome, and it is surprising how little uproar there has been over policies that are so stunningly destructive," he told The Telegraph at a gathering of Nobel laureates at Lake Constance. - The Telegraph

Glencore signalled that it would join the pack interested in Guinea's Simandou iron ore deposit as it became the first mining group to return cash to shareholders since the industry's era of austerity took hold two years ago. [...] The Simandou project in Guinea, which is the world's largest untapped iron ore deposit, was among the ambitious greenfield projects that marked a period of over-exuberant expansion. - The Times

Argentina is attempting to sidestep a US block on payments to its creditors by offering to exchange defaulted debt for new notes issued domestically. [The] government wants to replace Bank of New York Mellon, which, under a US judge's ruling, is holding a $539m payment by Argentina to its creditors, as trustee with state-run Banco Nacion. Argentina would then be allowed to pay the $539m to bondholders, a majority of whom must agree to the plan. - The Telegraph

Stagnant pay and pessimism about the prospect of future wage increases is still blighting British households, according to a new survey out today. The monthly Household Finance Index from financial data firm Markit edged up marginally to 42.2 from 42.0 in July, indicating that people are still no better off despite the generally improved economic outlook. - The Daily Mail

A £1 billion-plus deal for Glasgow which could create tens of thousands of jobs for Scotland's largest city has been formally signed. The City Deal will fund major infrastructure projects in Glasgow and the surrounding region in a bid to boost the economy for the next 20 years. The area's economy could benefit from a permanent boost worth £2.2 billion a year as a result while 15,000 jobs could be generated while construction work is taking place. - The Scotsman

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